Development Assistant

Working Title Films, co-chaired by Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, is one of the world’s leading British production companies, having created well-loved and critically acclaimed film and TV content for 40 years. The company is proud to have created over 130 films and TV programmes that have grossed over $8.5 billion worldwide and they continue to champion new talent through the London Screen Academy and NBC Universal Global Writers Programme.

Working Title projects have received a total of 10 Best Picture Nominations and have won 15 Academy Awards (including Joe Wright’s  Darkest Hour , Tom Hooper’s  The Danish Girl , James Marsh’s  The Theory of Everything , Tom Hooper’s  Les Misérables , Joe Wright’s  Anna Karenina , Tim Robbins’  Dead Man Walking ; Joel and Ethan Coen’s  Fargo ; Shekhar Kapur’s  Elizabeth  and  Elizabeth: The Golden Age ; and Joe Wright’s  Atonement ), 11 Golden Globes, over 40 BAFTA Awards and numerous prestigious prizes at the Cannes and Berlin International Film Festivals.

The company’s commercial and critical hits include My Beautiful Laundrette, Sid & Nancy , The Interpreter , About a Boy , Ali G , Notting Hill , Elizabeth , Fargo , Dead Man Walking , Bean , High Fidelity , Johnny English , Billy Elliot , Four Weddings and a Funeral , Bridget Jones’s Diary , Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason , A Serious Man , O Brother , Where Art Thou? , Love Actually , Shaun of the Dead , Pride & Prejudice , Nanny McPhee , United93 , Mr. Bean’s Holiday , Hot Fuzz , Elizabeth: The Golden Age , Burn After Reading , Frost/Nixon , Atonement , Senna , Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy , Contraband , Anna Karenina , Les Misérables , About Time , Rush , Trash , Everest , Legend , The Danish Girl , Hail Caesar! , Bridget Jones’s Baby , Victoria and Abdul , Baby Driver , Darkest Hour , Yesterday , Mary Queen of Scots , Rebecca, Emma , The High Note , Last Night in Soho and Cyrano, Ticket to Paradise, Matilda, The Swimmers, What’s Love got to do with it?, Polite Society, Blitz, as well as We Are Lady Parts and Everything I Know About Love for Working Title TV.

Recent releases include Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy (Universal Pictures), The Substance (Mubi), Coralie Fargeat’s explosive feminist take on body horror starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley, Honey Don’t (Focus Features) starring Margaret Qualley, Aubrey Plaza and Chris Evans, and Lena Dunham's eagerly anticipated series, Too Much (Netflix), starring Megan Stalter and Will Sharpe, written and directed by Lena Dunham with original music from Luis Felber.

Working Title’s upcoming slate includes Sense and Sensibility (Focus Features), directed by Georgia Oakley and starring Daisy Edgar Jones, Crime 101 (Amazon MGM) , an adaptation of the Don Winslow novella, directed by Bart Layton and starring Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo and Halle Berry, historical drama Pressure (Studiocanal & Focus Features) , directed by Anthony Maras, starring Andrew Scott, Kerry Condon and Brendan Fraser, Finding Emily (Focus Features) , a romantic comedy set in Manchester, written by Rachel Hirons, directed by Alicia MacDonald and starring Angourie Rice and Spike Fearn, Three Bags Full (Amazon MGM), starring Hugh Jackman, Nicolas Braun, Nicolas Galitzine, Molly Gordon, Hong Chau and Emma Thompson, as well as  Jo Nesbø’s Harry Hole  (Netflix) series adapted by leading crime-writer Jo Nesbø from his best-selling books, directed by Øystein Karlson, starring Tobias Santelmann and Joel Kinnaman. 

This programming exemplifies Working Title's commitment to pushing boundaries and embracing diverse narratives that resonate with contemporary audiences.

Job Description

Diary management and scheduling:

• Managing schedules for the Head of TV Drama and setting meetings internally and externally, be it project specific or general meetings with writers/directors and general support for the TV Creative Execs.
• Liaising with the Chairman, Co-Chariman and Head of TV and Film's offices, as well as our LA colleagues and ensuring that certain meetings/calls are going into their diaries and vice versa
• ‘Front of house’ duties when welcoming people for meetings.
• First point of contact for Working Title on calls for Head of TV Drama and the TV development department and ensuring that messages are passed on and dealt with professionally.
• Running through Head of TV Drama's diary at the beginning/end of each day and ensuring that she is pre-prepared for all of her meetings (i.e. reminding them to read/watch various material)
• Taking minutes in internal departmental meetings and ensuring that any tasks that arise are being properly actioned and followed-up.

Submissions:

• Helping and liaising with the film Team Assistant to manage the submissions log
• Covering material and writing coverage when asked - this includes writing synopses and providing informed comments/feedback on material that we’ve been officially submitted, assessing its value within the current TV landscape and thinking about whether it could be a good fit for Working Title to potentially bring onto their TV slates.
• Uploading material to our shared drive so that the TV and Film development teams can access remotely

Scripts / Working Title projects:

• Proofing new drafts as soon as they come in and amending/editing any typos using Final Draft
• Ensuring that scripts are correctly labeled and filed on our internal system
• Watermarking scripts/material for talent and ensuring that this information is sufficiently logged
• Updating or compiling project related lists (i.e. cast, writer and director lists)
• Drawing up beat-sheets and ‘carding’ scripts ahead of certain meetings
• Working alongside other development assistants and ensuring that each project has an up-to-date synopsis of the current draft

Travel:

• Liaising with high-profile talent to arrange their national/international travel and accommodation
• Organising Head of TV Drama’s travel when going on business trips or to events and festivals, and to and from set / production visits.

General:

• Booking theatre tickets and events
• When necessary, covering films/theatre and reporting back in a timely fashion and highlighting any recent film, tv, theatre news/reviews/general information that might be of interest and relevance to the wider Film and TV departments including circulating any relevant industry news and information to the development team
• General research
• Updating our general writers and directors long-lists
• Reconciling Head of TV Drama’s business credit card statement and expenses
• Lunch and coffee runs when runners and other support staff are not able to help and general support for visitors (talent) when in the building

Qualifications

Ideal skills for the role :

This role would ideally suit someone who thrives on being an Assistant in a very busy and varied Creative department. Ideally would have had some experience as an Assistant. Good / some working knowledge of established and emerging talent in the Film & TV Industry. Great organizational skills and a keen interest in Films and High end TV drama. Great interpersonal skills as dealing with some very senior Talent in the Industry.

While the focus of the role is largely administrative, there is scope to expand and contribute into the creative aspects of the department. A keen interest in film and television is expected, however wider interests including but not limited to areas such as theatre, literature, podcasts, comedy, gaming, social media and content creation, that can feed into the department, would be very welcome. 

Additional Information

As part of our selection process, external candidates may be required to attend an in-person interview with an NBCUniversal employee at one of our locations prior to a hiring decision. NBCUniversal's policy is to provide equal employment opportunities to all applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, creed, gender, gender identity or expression, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, veteran status, membership in the uniformed services, genetic information, or any other basis protected by applicable law.

If you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran and require support throughout the application and/or recruitment process as a result of your disability, you have the right to request a reasonable accommodation. You can submit your request to [email protected].